K&W at Brea Downtown — 27Jun2008

Our second outing at this outdoor street corner, in the middle of a up-scale-ified oldtown street. It’s now a bunch of trendy restaurants and shops, and two big multiplex movie theaters. Last time was way back in November, and we had a blast, even though we froze to death.

We’d expected a much better turnout, here in the summer, but not so much. But we had a steady stream of people, many with kids, and lots of cruising teenagers (mostly girls — don’t the boys know about this?).

Last time, we set up right in front of the strange fountain, but this time it was still on when we got there. But even if they had turned it off immediately, the water splashes on the ground, and we’d’a been setting up on wet concrete. So we just moved west 30 feet. That put us right in front of a bench, which was usually filled during the evening. Bonus!

It started out pretty slow (at 7:00) and didn’t get much better until around 9:00, when we started to get some actual (small) crowds standing around (maybe the movies were all letting out). But we almost always had a few people standing nearby, and there were people in the seats across the street at “Fatburger” who seemed to be listening.

It’s a little weird to play for an in-motion audience. I’m used to handing out the song lists and getting (at least some) requests during the night, but I couldn’t do that here. Also, we had to try to stick to the up-tempo songs, but those run out long before the night’s over. But, since the audience is constantly changing, we were able to do some songs multiple times, so I guess it works out.

Towards the end, an elderly couple (you know, my age) that we recognized from last time came by — they must live nearby. The guy clearly plays guitar, and likes to show off his ancient rock history trivia knowledge. It’s fun playing for people who “get it”.

We made $60 in tips, besting last time by $10. Warren took some video, click here, here, and here. We’re set to play there again on August 22. It’s hard getting dates there, but totally fun. Gotta learn some more up-tempo pop tunes.